Sam Bradford was supposed to be Chip Kelly’s Drew Brees – a former top draft pick who overcame injuries and resurrected his career with a new franchise and head coach. Instead, Bradford looks like Bradford out there.

 

Bradford is 27th among qualifying quarterbacks in passer rating (82.4), trailing players such as Kirk Cousins, Brandon Weeden and Brian Hoyer. Bradford is 25th in yards per attempt (6.6). He’s completing barely 60 percent of his passes, and save for the second half of the Washington game, his deep ball has been non-existent.

 

Bradford hasn’t been helped by drops or a subpar offensive line, but he hasn’t helped anyone with his atrocious body language, either. A free-agent-to-be following the 2015 campaign, it’s difficult to see Bradford coming back on a new deal.

 

 

Remember when the Philadelphia Eagles stole DeMarco Murray, the 2014 NFL Offensive Player of the Year and league rushing champion, from the rival Dallas Cowboys?

 

It’s looking like the $40 million Chip Kelly gave Murray was a colossal mistake. The Curse of 370 has hit Murray hard; he’s missed a game due to injury and he’s somehow, inexplicably, mired at 47 rushing yards on 29 carries. That includes a 30-yarder.

 

The offensive line has been atrocious – anyone who has watched an Eagles game can see Murray has repeatedly gotten hit in the backfield immediately upon receiving the snap. But Murray deserves much of the blame too.

 

His yards after contact per attempt number of 2.0, a measure of his ability to break tackles, is 46th-best in the NFL. Last year, he was at 2.5 and in the middle of the pack. Murray averaged over four missed tackles per game in 2014; his year, he’s at 1.75.

 

Running backs can decline at a rapid pace, and while it’s soon to say that’s the case for Murray, his contract suggests he better turn it around or the Eagles are paying top dollar for little to no production.

 

 

Chip Kelly picked up Ryan Mathews on a cheap, three-year deal, and he’s been a productive runner when called upon.

 

Against the New York Jets in Week 3, Mathews broke out for 108 rushing yards on 25 carries, doing so when Murray was injured. Mathews is an extremely hard runner who carries the ball like every one will be his last in the league. His problem has been his inability to catch the football – at just eight targets this season, his three dropped passes stand out as a sizable problem.

 

 

This grade will solely reflect Darren Sproles as a running back, while his returning skills will be reflected under special teams.

 

Sproles is probably capable of carrying a bigger workload than he gets. He was arguably the Eagles’ best player in Week 1, totaling 126 yards on just 12 touches. He added a rushing touchdown in the Week 3 win, and has caught at least four passes in three of the four games.

 

Like Mathews, Sproles has (surprisingly) struggled with dropped passes. Per PFF, he and Mathews are two of just four running backs in the league with at least three drops. Sproles’ dropped 78-yard wheel route touchdown against the Jets hurt, although fortunately Philadelphia still won the game.

 

 

Jordan Matthews has been the lone Eagles’ receiver pulling his weight this season, and the offense would be pretty much stagnant without him.

 

Kelly plays Matthews largely in the slot to take advantage of the second-year player’s 6’3″, 212-pound frame. Matthews is quietly on pace for close to 100 catches and 1,300 yards. He’s caught just one touchdown in four games, and dropped too many passes, but still, he’s arguably the team’s offensive MVP in 2015.

 

 

Perhaps this is too harsh of a way to grade a rookie playing his first four NFL games, but count me among the many who thought Nelson Agholor would be an immediate producer in Chip Kelly’s offense.

 

Instead, Agholor has accumulated just seven receptions for 103 yards this season. Nearly half of that yardage total came on a 45-yard catch this past week, meaning Agholor has consistently been a non-factor for the Eagles. It’s still early in his career, but it’s been a very disappointing showing from the player who was deemed by scouts to be NFL-ready.

 

 

There’s no denying the five-year deal Riley Cooper got from former GM Howie Roseman following his 2013 breakout campaign was a mistake. Cooper hasn’t come close to duplicating the success he had with Nick Foles, and he’s been among the worst starting receivers in pro football in ’15.

 

Cooper has played 144 snaps this season, starting every game, yet he’s recorded just five catches. Only one receiver in the league (Albert Wilson) has fewer catches on as many snaps. Cooper’s sole value as a football player derives from his ability to block well, but that’s not worth $5 million per season and won’t be enough for him to return in 2016.

 

 

There was optimism about Josh Huff heading into 2015, and so far, Huff has squelched the expectations of even his biggest supporters.

 

Huff played over 30 snaps in each of the season’s first two games, but after missing Week 3 with a hamstring strain, Huff returned to play just four snaps in the Week 4 loss to Washington. And this was despite Huff being at full health.

 

It sounds like Huff is being phased out of the offense for Cooper and Miles Austin, which isn’t promising for a 2014 third-round pick who was supposed to break out in Year 2 under Chip Kelly.

 

 

Brent Celek has always kept Zach Ertz from becoming a full-time player because Celek is a better blocker. The problem is Ertz hasn’t yet had the breakout numbers many expected from him in the passing game, and he’s been uncharacteristically quiet through the first four games of 2015.

 

Ertz has 10 catches for 104 yards, numbers in the same range as far-inferior talents in Jacob Tamme, Richard Rodgers, and Garrett Celek. Three of Bradford’s passes in Ertz’s direction have been intercepted, meaning the two clearly aren’t demonstrating good chemistry.

 

 

At this point in his career, Brent Celek is technically listed as the starter at tight end, but he’s a glorified blocker who can be counted on to make an occasional catch, as he did for a touchdown against Washington in Week 4. Still, Celek has just two receptions for the season, meaning the Eagles have just 12 for the season from their tight end corps.

 

 

It’s difficult to grade offensive linemen individually, but as a unit, the Eagles have drastically underachieved. Kelly’s decision to release All-Pro guard Evan Mathis looks like a colossal mistake, as the line’s struggles have been particularly evident in opening holes for Murray in the running game.

 

Left tackle Jason Peters is still the best of the five, and one of the best at his position in the league, but he’s reached an age (33) where his body is starting to break down. Center Jason Kelce was at his finest against Atlanta in Week 1, where his ability to get downfield to the second level was instrumental in the running game. Since then, he’s underwhelmed, and he’s second among all centers in penalties (4).

 

Right tackle Lane Johnson is a superb athlete who has dropped off a bit from his breakout 2014 campaign. At guard, Andrew Gardner and Allen Barbre proved to be what they are – journeymen players best suited as backups. Gardner has since been lost for the season, and Matt Tobin has been horrific in 87 snaps, surrendering three sacks in pass protection. The Eagles need better play from their linemen, and they also need a new face in at a positional group that hasn’t had a player drafted since Kelly took Johnson with his first-ever pick back in 2013.